Remi's New Buddy

When trainer mom and I put our mind to something, we shift into high gear and get it done! And so it has been with the quest to find a new buddy for Remington to help heal the huge hole in his heart. And you know what, we did it! But, I'll save that bit of news for a little later in the post. And no fair scrolling down to the end to see the news :)

For the most part, Remi has been standoffish and not allowing any hugs or kisses. Bunny tried to brush him the other day and all he wanted to do was pull away and head to the center of the pasture where he has been standing and looking around for Prince. Persistence does pay off though because between the both of us, we keep trying and a couple of times, there has been a breakthrough.

Last weekend while we were at the barn cleaning his room, he wandered up for a brief moment to see what was going on. He toyed with the hay pile in front of the stall a bit and then began his pacing up and down the aisle. I went up to him and asked for a kiss and lo and behold he put his nose down and I got my kiss. Just one and he pulled his head back up. Hey, I'll take it because it's progress.

I walked down to the feed stall and started making up a hay bag for him and in no time at all, there was the big guy at the gate watching me work. Hmmm, he's here, he's interested and I have alfalfa cubes close by. So, with a handful of treats, I walked toward him and beggar pony emerged. Another step in the right direction because he is thinking about food and he's begging for treats. Ok, I'll take that too. Baby steps you know. A broken heart takes a long time to heal.

We moved Remi into Princeton's stall so he could be closer to the house and have two side windows to look out and see the dogs and us when we are in the yard. He seems to like his new digs and in the mornings when I leave for work, I get to see him and say see ya later Remipup. In fact, the last couple of mornings have been so special, because he has been laying down in the stall and all I see is his ears. When I tell him so long and I love him, the ears go up like a submarine periscope. I can't see his head, but the ears do perk up and it's been a great way to start the day.

Yesterday, Bunny was preparing the stall for our new arrival. Remi was in his stall and he didn't know she was there at first. She popped her head up over the top slat and he nickered at her. How cool is that? She talked to him and kept him company for awhile and in that short time, Remi seemed to forget his sadness. We are both trying to spend more time with him, but we can't be there for the amount of time he needs, so we're going to leave that up to the new kid.

Ok, so now that you've been patient, I'll tell you a little about the new kid coming our way who we hope and pray will be that special buddy that Remington so desperately needs. His name is Woodhouse (Woody for short) and he is a six year old English Shire gelding. He's black with four white stockings and a white blaze and is absolutely gorgeous. He has a docile personality and our gut instincts say this is the one.

Woody is currently in Tennessee but will hopefully be with us on the ranchette by the end of the month. He's 17.2 hh and has a high enough back that he should be able to be hooked with Remi for training and for that little extra bonding that is so desperately needed.

So, there's the scoop. And, until Woody gets here, the two of us will continue to keep the big boy as happy as we can and spend more time with him. I won't go as far to say that we will don a horse costume, but we will do what we can to ease his heartache in the meantime.

We'll take some pictures and share them with you as soon as he joins the family. We're excited and hopeful that he will help heal Remi's broken heart and ours.

Stay tuned, Stay happy and Stay with us!